Julia Kozakova is a young singer with a really wide artistic range. She started her career in a children´s folk music ensemble and later she was a part of the Roma children´s choir Čhavorenge, led by Ida Kelarová. She is currently participating in many music projects – there is an international song repertoire in the band called Sole, some jazz pieces in Velvet Case, and Roma music interpreted by non-Roma musicians in the O Gadže Bašaven project designed for young listeners. She released her debut album Manuša in the spring of 2022. Manuša means people in the Roma language, and the whole album is dedicated to Roma people who Júlia has met in her life and who have enriched her, as a person without Roma roots, through their musical culture. The album contains Roma traditional songs from various regions of Slovakia and was recorded in cooperation with Ľubomír Gašpar, on cimbalom, Viliam Didiáš, on violin, Vojtech Botoš, on viola and on bass, Ján Rigo. Manuša was the most broadcasted album in the MergingArts Global Radio in Boston in the middle of June and it reached no. 25 in the international Transglobal World Music Chart in July. Júlia Kozáková performed it live with her band at the end of June at a series of concerts in London and Birmingham and also at various summer festivals and concerts in Slovakia and Czech Republic.

Voice: Júlia Kozáková
Violin: Viliam Didiáš
Cimbalom: Ľubomír Gašpar
Viola: Vojtech “Bélu” Botoš
Double Bass: Ján Rigo
Guitar: Zsolt Varady

Manuša

Manuša means people in the Roma language.
People, the ancestors of the Roma, left us the songs to create this album. Written by life and confirmed by many generations. Treasure. We are all people, too, regardless of origin or skin color. We live together on the same Earth and have many differences and peculiarities that can enrich each other. And so it has happened to me, a person without Roma roots, that I have been enriched on my journey by Roma traditional songs. I am enchanted by their depth, simplicity and passion. They teach me that sadness is as beautiful and necessary as joy. I have adopted these songs into my life so they are now a part of me. With sensitivity, love and respect, I take the liberty of interpreting them on my first album.
I wish that we would let ourselves be enriched by the gifts of others and share our own. It is an incredibly rich and adventurous journey.